Lenovo ThinkPad X220

Introduction

This is a compatibility guide to running Linux with the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 laptop. If you have the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 and are running Linux on it please consider editing this page or adding a comment below with your compatibility details. By contributing you will help other people running this laptop or trying to make a decision on whether to buy it or not.

Notes

You can enter any specific notes with running Linux on the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 here.
i7-2640M-8GB-DDR3, working with ubuntu 11.10 and 14.04.
i5-2410M-4GB-DDR3, working with openSUSE-12.1, 12.2 and 12.3.

Summary

You can enter a summary of how well the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 works with Linux here.

Works great with Ubuntu 12.04. A few small issues: battery life was shorter than expected, but with Jupiter power saving application, I could get much better life. Minor issues with the mute indicator not always indicating when the computer was in mute, and no control on the microphone mute. Skype crashes if you try to message while in a video call. VGA works well, dual screen operation is great, and no problems with any drivers or I/O.

Derrik Pates, 2013/04/24 02:40

Also, FWIW, I have 12 GB (1x 4 GB original, 1x 8 GB aftermarket SO-DIMM) RAM installed in my X220. Lenovo only certifies it up to 8 GB, but it will run up to 16 GB with no problems.

Derrik Pates, 2013/04/24 02:09

Running Linux Mint 14 on my ThinkPad X220 (CTO) with Bluetooth and the Core i5-2540M CPU. I can confirm VGA out works, as well as Bluetooth, the SD card reader, the ExpressCard slot (requires loading the 'acpiphp' driver, but once that driver is loaded works trouble-free), and the TrackPoint pointing device. Mine does not have a modem or WWAN device or the fingerprint reader device, though I've read info indicating it works. I'm running a combination of the 320 GB 7200RPM hard disk and a Renice X3 mSATA SSD (120 GB). Slice battery also works fine with Linux Mint.